Wednesday, June 27 (Faris Al-Sultan in the house)

I had a difficult night sleeping. I slept off and on. My 2 beer trick didn’t work as well as expected. I nearly overslept after turning off the alarm. My plan for today was to join a guided tour of the bike course by the race director at 11 a.m.. The bike course is setup such that you complete two loops after joining the loop in downtown from the lake where the swim is. It was a little longer than I probably should have gone, but the pace was very gentle.

As I pulled up to meet the group at the starting point, I notice this fellow that looks like a spitting image of Faris Al-Sultan (for those that may not know, he won Kona in 2005 and he’s arguably one of the Top 3 fastest racers out there- He’s German, too). After a momentary pause, it hits me, “It is Faris!” How cool is this, I get to ride with Faris. I’m completely mad at myself for not bringing the camera. I had it in my hand when I was walking out of the door, but talked myself out of it at the last moment.

I’d say roughly 30-35 riders showed up. Right off the bat, I felt a little out of place. I was one of only a few that showed up without a light wind jacket. As we got started, a gentlemen rode next to me and asked if I was from Sweden. I chuckled and responded, “No, I’m just a stupid American that doesn’t look at the weather forecast before heading out the door running late. We introduced ourselves and now Mark become my riding buddy.

Mark was giving me play by play on how to ride the course, what to look out for, where you should go fast when with the wind behind you, etc. He turned out to be British, but lives in Frankfurt with another house in Bali. I never quite figured out what exactly he did for living other than he’s in the jewelry business. An interesting character.

Just to share a story of what a star Faris is over here, as we were riding through one of the villages there were two middle-aged German ladies, shopping bags in tow, standing on the curb waiting for us to go by so they could cross. Since I was about 3 riders behind Faris, I witnessed the whole event. As Faris passed, one of the ladies points him out and yells to her friend in German, most of which was said I didn’t understand, but I definitely caught the excitement in her voice when she said “Faris Al-Sultan”.

As I was having a late lunch, I also spotted Faris walking through the lobby. Sweet, I hope I can pester him into a picture one of these days. I know, I know…annoying American. It was interesting though that he was speaking English a lot on the ride today.

Below: I included a snippet of an email I sent to my cycling group back home

Quick recap:1. Faris is a total stud. I think he spoke to everyone on the ride. I wished him luck, told him to kick Stadler's butt and complemented him on his sweet helmet...aahh he wasn't wearing one, just a beanie cap. I guess we'd have to kick him out of core rides.2. Course is beautiful, very fast in parts and very scenic. Just praying for the wind to die down a bit. 3. I actually saw 3 riders with bigger calves than Damian.4. I think I saw one pothole the whole ride.5. Just about everyone speaks English. It's saving me!6. When you have to relieve yourself, you just swing off the rode and let it go. No need to hide in the bushes. I must admit it felt a little awkward with 15 of us lined right at the edge of the road peeing with cars going right by. Probably get thrown in jail back home.7. Every little kid by the side of the road in the villages wants a high-five. Very cool.

The plan for tomorrow is to catch a taxi in the morning for a short ride to Langener Waldsee (name of the lake where the swim is). I can swim in the lake with my wetsuit. According to Mark, the water is a little chilly. After that, I’ll get in a very short, easy bike and run.

Here's some photos of the finish area. It's a little mind blowing the setup work going into this.